J shifter removal with stripped bolt?

[Ed74]

I am in the process of removing my tranny and transfer case. However, when I attempted to unbolt the two nuts holding the J shifter in place, one bolt seemingly keeps turning without it backing out. Is this bolt stripped? If so, how can I remove my J shifter? This is the last item to be removed before I drop the tranny/TC.

Thanks,
Ed

 

[JeepGuy]

Front or rear bolt? The front should go all the way through, the rear should thread into the housing.

 

[Ed74]

I am having trouble with the front bolt. Should I keep ratcheting. It seemed as if it was rotating in place. But then again, I had 34 years of oil and dirt built up within my dust boot, which made it difficult to see. Thanks!

 

[JeepGuy]

The front bolt goes through the actual cast of the tranny. It may sound simple, but are you holding the other side of the bolt or nut when you turning it? Like I said, the rear one threads into the tranny, the front one is a bolt and nut set up that goes through the tranny case.

 

[tasker]

I did the same thing, ooops!

 

[KyleQ]

Yeah - same here. I was worried.

 

[blubuckaroo]

It's really hard to get both hands up there the wrench and hold the nut at the same time. I always feel like cutting a great big hole in the floor!

 

[Ed74]

Thank goodness I was able to locate the bolt head on the opposite side of the adapter housing. It did take some time to locate since it was completely covered with oil and dirt. I wish I had read this post prior to my work. Well, my tranny/TC are finally out. Now it is time to prep my NV3550! Thank you everyone for your help!